On marketing.

Keebler's Elves Busy With New Product Ideas

June 11, 1997|By George Lazarus.

Can Keebler Co.'s elves sell something other than cookies and crackers?

The year-ago combination of Keebler and Sunshine Biscuits Inc. created a firm with about 23 percent share of the biscuit business. The bad news is that category leader Nabisco, with 43 percent, still has nearly twice that business and has doggedly protected its position.

Keebler's Elves--Ernie and the rest of the Hollow Tree Lane gang--have been around for 29 years with 90-plus percent awareness among consumers.

That visibility might be transferred to other products if related category opportunities could be determined.

The document, dated June 10, might well have been presented at a meeting Tuesday, but whether it was in Burnett's offices here or at Keebler's headquarters in Elmhurst, couldn't be determined.

Chances are, the client commissioned Burnett to look into new product categories for Keebler to consider entering.

Sam Knox Reed, Keebler's chief executive officer, says, "We think Keebler is a great brand that may well have extension possibilities (beyond biscuits)."

Reed, who came on board at Keebler in late 1995 when the firm was acquired by new parent Inflo Holdings, a joint venture, declined further comment and did not acknowledge the existence of the report.

Reed, who has worked for a number of bakeries, told this column that in the second half, there will be a number of new product introductions, most of them line extensions such as a Nacho-flavored Cheez-It, a top seller at Sunshine.

Keebler spent $6.5 million in TV advertising in 1996, a figure sharply down from similar media expenditures in the annual range of $20 million to $30 million in the past. Reed admits that the TV ad budget was significantly pared last year, but he expects a return to higher media spending.

No joy in Sudsville: On the heels of Pavichevich Brewing Co. filing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition, another microbrewer, Chicago Brewing Co., next Wednesday in bankruptcy court will put up its equipment and brands for auction. Chicago Brewing, which began operations in mid-1990, last September filed for bankruptcy. While this North Side brewery has won awards for its beers, including its Legacy brand, business has slumped. About 5,000 barrels were produced in 1996, versus 10,000 the previous year, reports Stephen J. Dinehart III, general manager. The brewery has a production capability of 30,000 barrels. Dinehart says the brewery owes about $2.5 million, including debts of all types. He's hoping there'll be some financial help to keep the brewery in operation, but it will shut down on Tuesday pending the auction. "We'll still be selling beer," he says.

Pavichevich, which has a production capability of nearly 40,000 barrels in its Elmhurst facility, still is operating. This firm on April 25 filed a bankruptcy petition as U.S. Bank of Pittsburgh called in a loan of $1.2 million. Keith Shapiro, an attorney for Holleb & Coff, heads a committee of unsecured creditors in the Pavichevich bankruptcy filing. Shapiro said he had lined up a buyer to acquire Chicago Brewing, but Dinehart says an offer was never made.

Smile Betsy, smile: Betsy Holden, one of Kraft Foods' top women executives, sure looked resplendent at the Off the Street Club's annual luncheon Tuesday at the Westin Hotel Chicago. And why not, as she was re-elected to another one-year term as president of this club, a West Side youth organization largely supported by the Chicago ad and marketing community. Betsy is executive VP-general manager of the Kraft Cheese Division ($3 billion-plus in annual sales) in Glenview. Betsy knows how to smile when anybody says cheese. The club, under Holden's leadership and with support of companies and agencies, raised $450,000 from last year's Christmas holiday party, orchestrated by Ogilvy & Mather Chicago, and the recent Bozo Ball hosted by WGN-TV. Holden's major initiative is building a new structure across from the club's existing space at 25 N. Karlov. Other appointments: Bob Zander to Midwest manager for Conde Nast Publications' Bride's magazine. . .D'Arcy Bretz to a VP of Financial Relations Board.

- Conseco Inc., the Carmel, Ind.-based financial services firm, expects advertising to appear late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter from newly appointed agency Fallon McElligott Berlin New York. Print will be first, followed by a combination of print and TV for this $10 million account, said a Conseco spokesman.